Dittos, Deloreans, and Ponce de León by quiesce, Dan/Casey, rated: G
Title: Dittos, Deloreans, and Ponce de León
Author: quiesce
Author's website: fix index post
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Rating: G
Category: slash
Notes: Written for picfor1000. Set in the same universe as Forever and Always and Traditions New and Old. Thanks to phoebesmum for the beta.
The bed creaked as Casey climbed into it, creaky as their joints as they settled. They'd bought it when they'd moved in together and it, like them, was showing its age.
Dan turned off the lamp and Casey snuggled in close, waiting for his side of the bed to warm up.
With his eyes not yet adjusted to the dark, Dan couldn't make out the expression on Casey's face, but he could tell that something was on Casey's mind -- he kept taking deep breaths as if he was about to start talking, then letting them out slowly with a slight sigh. Dan lay still and waited patiently for Casey to figure out what he wanted to say.
"Do you ever regret getting old?" Casey asked after several minutes had passed.
"-er," Dan corrected.
"Ok, older. Do you regret it?"
"I miss being able to run a four-minute mile --"
Casey snorted.
"-- but I can't really complain about the way things turned out." Dan rolled onto his side and loosely wrapped an arm around Casey's chest. When Casey didn't respond, Dan asked more seriously, "Why, do you?"
"Not exactly," Casey said with obvious hesitation. "It just seems like I wasted a lot of time. Clinging to my marriage for a few years after it was really over. Getting hung up on unimportant things instead of going after what I wanted and what was important. If I could do it all again, I'd do some things differently."
Dan propped himself up on an elbow to give Casey a quick kiss, then lay back down letting his lips rest against Casey's cheek. After a moment of silence, he said, "Maybe I could go back in time and tell young you that it's not necessary to take fifteen years to work up the nerve to ask me out." He felt, rather than saw, Casey start to smile. "Only one problem with that plan."
"Only one?"
"I fear if young me were to see current me, young me would say 'my goodness, look at that attractive, slightly older but very distinguished looking man.' And then I would try to have sex with myself. And if I couldn't resist my own charm, I'd create some sort of paradox and blink out of existence."
Casey laughed. "Because you had sex with yourself?"
"Exactly," Dan nodded. "Back to the Future taught us that much."
"Oddly enough, that's not how I remember those movies."
"Yes, well, you're old. I don't expect you to get all the details correct."
Casey twisted around until he could place his perpetually cold feet on top of Dan's. Dan yelped and poked Casey gently in the belly.
They fell into a long silence and, were it not for the lack of loud snoring, Dan would've thought Casey had drifted off to sleep. Dan tried to figure out what he could do or say to put Casey's mind to rest, but kept drawing blanks.
Casey broke the quiet, his tone, now light and playful, surprising Dan.
"What if, instead of dealing with time travel, we just find the Fountain of Youth so we can be horny teenagers together?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Dan frowned.
Casey sighed. "Because we're both likely to put a hip out if we starting rolling around like kids? Because there is no Fountain of Youth and we'd end up wasting the rest of our lives searching for some magical, mythical entity that doesn't actually exist? Because people are not meant to be immortal and because knowing we have a finite number of days on earth pushes us to make the most of them?"
"No, I meant the fountain bit, specifically."
"The fountain bit?"
"They never work properly. Based on anecdotal evidence, I'd say that at any point in time, at least half the fountains in the world are broken. What happens if you get up to the Fountain of Youth and you press the button and the water just dribbles out? Do you really want to put your mouth on it just to get your youth back? Who knows what germs are on that thing. Or, even worse, you turn on the fountain and it sprays all over the place and eternal youth is wasted on your shirt."
"I don't know about 'waste'. You do have some really nice shirts," Casey mused, the teasing lilt back in his voice.
"But the youth was intended for yours truly," Dan exclaimed in feigned offence. "Are you saying that, given the choice, you'd rather have a shirt get eternal youth instead of me?"
"Do I get to pick the shirt, or is it just whichever shirt you happen to be wearing on the day we find the Fountain of Youth?"
Dan poked Casey again, this time in his side.
Casey tried to twist away from Dan's hands. "You know, if you're so opposed to the idea of one of your shirts stealing your youth, you could always start wearing a bib whenever there's a fountain nearby. Just in case it's youth-giving."
They both started laughing and the bed groaned in protest as they shook.
"I don't regret any of it, Casey," Dan said after they'd stilled. "Not the waiting for you to come around. Not the having to keep it hidden until we were both sure we were done being public figures. Not all the years we've had since. None of it."
Casey considered this at length. Dan tried again to discern his expression in the darkness, but could only barely tell where Casey's head was, not enough for any clues.
"Ditto." Casey said eventually.
"Ditto?" Dan lovingly scoffed. "I play the supportive boyfriend and you say 'ditto'?"
Casey rolled on top of Dan. "Maybe you are better than me with words after all." Casey lowered his head and caught Dan's mouth with his.
When they parted for air, Dan said, "Took you long enough to figure that out." Then he smiled and pulled Casey in for another kiss.
Author: quiesce
Author's website: fix index post
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Rating: G
Category: slash
Notes: Written for picfor1000. Set in the same universe as Forever and Always and Traditions New and Old. Thanks to phoebesmum for the beta.
The bed creaked as Casey climbed into it, creaky as their joints as they settled. They'd bought it when they'd moved in together and it, like them, was showing its age.
Dan turned off the lamp and Casey snuggled in close, waiting for his side of the bed to warm up.
With his eyes not yet adjusted to the dark, Dan couldn't make out the expression on Casey's face, but he could tell that something was on Casey's mind -- he kept taking deep breaths as if he was about to start talking, then letting them out slowly with a slight sigh. Dan lay still and waited patiently for Casey to figure out what he wanted to say.
"Do you ever regret getting old?" Casey asked after several minutes had passed.
"-er," Dan corrected.
"Ok, older. Do you regret it?"
"I miss being able to run a four-minute mile --"
Casey snorted.
"-- but I can't really complain about the way things turned out." Dan rolled onto his side and loosely wrapped an arm around Casey's chest. When Casey didn't respond, Dan asked more seriously, "Why, do you?"
"Not exactly," Casey said with obvious hesitation. "It just seems like I wasted a lot of time. Clinging to my marriage for a few years after it was really over. Getting hung up on unimportant things instead of going after what I wanted and what was important. If I could do it all again, I'd do some things differently."
Dan propped himself up on an elbow to give Casey a quick kiss, then lay back down letting his lips rest against Casey's cheek. After a moment of silence, he said, "Maybe I could go back in time and tell young you that it's not necessary to take fifteen years to work up the nerve to ask me out." He felt, rather than saw, Casey start to smile. "Only one problem with that plan."
"Only one?"
"I fear if young me were to see current me, young me would say 'my goodness, look at that attractive, slightly older but very distinguished looking man.' And then I would try to have sex with myself. And if I couldn't resist my own charm, I'd create some sort of paradox and blink out of existence."
Casey laughed. "Because you had sex with yourself?"
"Exactly," Dan nodded. "Back to the Future taught us that much."
"Oddly enough, that's not how I remember those movies."
"Yes, well, you're old. I don't expect you to get all the details correct."
Casey twisted around until he could place his perpetually cold feet on top of Dan's. Dan yelped and poked Casey gently in the belly.
They fell into a long silence and, were it not for the lack of loud snoring, Dan would've thought Casey had drifted off to sleep. Dan tried to figure out what he could do or say to put Casey's mind to rest, but kept drawing blanks.
Casey broke the quiet, his tone, now light and playful, surprising Dan.
"What if, instead of dealing with time travel, we just find the Fountain of Youth so we can be horny teenagers together?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Dan frowned.
Casey sighed. "Because we're both likely to put a hip out if we starting rolling around like kids? Because there is no Fountain of Youth and we'd end up wasting the rest of our lives searching for some magical, mythical entity that doesn't actually exist? Because people are not meant to be immortal and because knowing we have a finite number of days on earth pushes us to make the most of them?"
"No, I meant the fountain bit, specifically."
"The fountain bit?"
"They never work properly. Based on anecdotal evidence, I'd say that at any point in time, at least half the fountains in the world are broken. What happens if you get up to the Fountain of Youth and you press the button and the water just dribbles out? Do you really want to put your mouth on it just to get your youth back? Who knows what germs are on that thing. Or, even worse, you turn on the fountain and it sprays all over the place and eternal youth is wasted on your shirt."
"I don't know about 'waste'. You do have some really nice shirts," Casey mused, the teasing lilt back in his voice.
"But the youth was intended for yours truly," Dan exclaimed in feigned offence. "Are you saying that, given the choice, you'd rather have a shirt get eternal youth instead of me?"
"Do I get to pick the shirt, or is it just whichever shirt you happen to be wearing on the day we find the Fountain of Youth?"
Dan poked Casey again, this time in his side.
Casey tried to twist away from Dan's hands. "You know, if you're so opposed to the idea of one of your shirts stealing your youth, you could always start wearing a bib whenever there's a fountain nearby. Just in case it's youth-giving."
They both started laughing and the bed groaned in protest as they shook.
"I don't regret any of it, Casey," Dan said after they'd stilled. "Not the waiting for you to come around. Not the having to keep it hidden until we were both sure we were done being public figures. Not all the years we've had since. None of it."
Casey considered this at length. Dan tried again to discern his expression in the darkness, but could only barely tell where Casey's head was, not enough for any clues.
"Ditto." Casey said eventually.
"Ditto?" Dan lovingly scoffed. "I play the supportive boyfriend and you say 'ditto'?"
Casey rolled on top of Dan. "Maybe you are better than me with words after all." Casey lowered his head and caught Dan's mouth with his.
When they parted for air, Dan said, "Took you long enough to figure that out." Then he smiled and pulled Casey in for another kiss.